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Plans to avert a U.S. government shutdown began taking shape in the Senate on Tuesday, but it was still far from certain whether a dispute over funding for women's healthcare group Planned Parenthood could be overcome. With only days remaining before an Oct. 1 deadline, Senate leaders said they were pursuing a stop-gap funding bill to extend the present federal budget for about 10 weeks beyond the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year. (Cowan and Cornwell, 9/22)

Conservatives in both chambers have been wrestling for weeks with how to respond to videos released by an antiabortion group showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing procuring fetal tissue from abortions to provide to third parties for medical research. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) began setting up the votes expected to create a path for a spending bill to clear Senate procedures before the government runs out of money. But the bigger question is whether House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) will be willing to go along with a plan unpopular among many of his most conservative lawmakers, who say the must-pass spending bill should strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood. (Peterson and Armour, 9/22)

Nearly a dozen House GOP freshmen are urging their colleagues to avoid a government shutdown next week and pass a short-term spending bill a week before federal agencies run out of money. In a “Dear Colleague” letter, eleven new Republicans urged their fellow GOP lawmakers to pass a continuing resolution by Sept. 30 - and not hold any stopgap spending bill hostage over funding for Planned Parenthood. (Bresnahan and Bade, 9/23)

When Republicans took control of Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed there would be no federal government shutdown on his watch. Now, with barely a week to go before the Sept. 30 fiscal-year deadline, the GOP leader is in a familiar struggle to prevent that outcome. (Mascaro, 9/22)

The Senate on Tuesday blocked a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, thwarting one component of a Republican antiabortion push sparked by the release of undercover videos. A group of 40 members of the Democratic caucus and 2 Republicans defeated the 20-week abortion ban in a 54-42 procedural vote Tuesday. The measure, already approved by the House in May, needed 60 votes to advance in the Senate. But the vote didn’t douse the abortion debate still roiling both chambers of Congress. (Peterson and Armour, 9/22)

The vote on the "fetal pain" bill was 54-42, short of the 60 needed to move ahead. Two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois — and three Democrats — Sens. Joe Manchin (W.V.), Bob Casey (Penn.) and Donnelly (Ind.)—crossed party lines. None of those five votes were surprising, given the lawmakers' stance on abortion and their statements about this legislation. Four senators, including Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.) Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) Parry Murray (D-Wash.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) did not vote. (Ehley, 9/22)